In two hours Tuesday, the County Commission sitting as the Zoning Board dispatched 55 rezonings in the central county area under the first test of its ``use it or lose it`` policy.

Commissioners, in one motion at the outset, allowed 29 of the 55 properties to retain their status.

The ``methodology`` prescribed by the County Commission had required that these 29 be included in the rezoning list, although staff thought they should not have their zoning revoked, Zoning Director Frank Palen explained.

The board withdrew only five of the remaining recommended downzonings. Property owners on four of these were represented by attorneys who persuaded the board to reject planning staff recommendations.

The policy was born out of county officials` concern that millions of square feet of commercial projects had been approved but not built. New applicant were turned down because too much commercial space was in the pipeline.

But a thorough analysis of thousands of rezoning approvals countywide yielded a different result.

``There is not nearly as much unused commercial zoning as we thought when we started looking,`` Planning Director Stan Redick said.

The potential reduction in commercial office and retail space if all 55 cases lost their rezoning is about 700,000 square feet, Redick said.

Of the 55 parcels, which make up 220 acres, 37 were rezoned commercial or industrial. Eighteen others, rezoned residential, make up 706 acres.

Tuesday`s hearing was designed to remove zoning approvals granted over the past 10 to 15 years for still-undeveloped property.

It differs from a similar ``use it or lose it`` policy the board adopted last year, Palen said. That doctrine requires county staff to review rezonings approved within the past two years.

If development has not begun, staff can initiate revocation of the rezonings, Palen said, but a one-year extension is routinely granted upon request.

Tuesday`s actions were different. Staff first determined whether the original approval was granted before or after the county`s comprehensive land-use plan was adopted in 1980.

On those approved before 1980, staff generally initiated rezoning if there had been no activity, Redick said.

A major concern, explained Assistant County Attorney Chip Carlson, is whether the owner has spent significant money based on the rezoning. If not, he said, revoking the zoning would be more defensible in court.